LESSON 12

THE STORY OF 1, 2, & 3 JOHN

Introduction:
  • 1, 2, & 3 John were written within a few years of the writing of the Gospel of John, and possibly within a short period of time.
  • Most scholars consider these three epistles to have been written by the same author as the Gospel of John, and most likely by the Apostle John.
  • Their theology is very similar – eternal life comes through really and fully believing in Jesus Christ – that he was born in the flesh as the son of God, and that he was fully divine.
  • Their Greek style and vocabulary are very similar and easy to read.
    •
  • These three epistles and the Gospel of John were written sometime in the last decade of the first century AD, sometime around AD 92-96. Their date is similar to the date for the Book of Revelation (AD 96-98).
  • The epistles and the Gospel of John are believed by scholars to be associated with the churches in the region of Ephesus. This also was the view of the early church.
     
    •

    Brief Overview of the Gospel of John:
  • Read John 1:1-18 and briefly comment on the passage.
  • Jesus was with God in the beginning, he was God (fully divine with the Father), and he was the creative power of all things created.
  • He was born in the flesh and lived among us.
  • He was rejected by the Jews because he claimed to be God’s Son, thus divine.
    •
  • John proclaims that whoever believes in Jesus, that he is the Son of God, and that he is fully divine having come from the Father, will have eternal life.
  • John 3:16; 36.
  • John 5:24.
  • John 20:30, 31.
     
    •

    Overview of 1, 2, 3 John:
  • The churches in the region of Ephesus were facing serious false teachings about Jesus. Some "Christians" were denying that Jesus was fully divine, that the Christ had come in the flesh, and were teaching that the Christ had merely taken over Jesus’ body for a while.
  • Technically, we call this false teaching Gnosticism, which derives from the Greek word for knowledge, gnosis.
  • They taught that the death of Jesus was a tragedy, but not for saving anyone; that the resurrection of Jesus was a myth; and that all man needed to be saved was a special kind of secret knowledge that only those initiated into their circle received.
  • They were harsh in their rejection of Christians and manifested no real love for the church and Christians.
  • They considered themselves to be superior super-spirituals!
    •
  • Paul had warned Timothy about this false teaching that was developing in and around Ephesus. (Teacher, do not take time to develop this warning or the false teaching, merely point to the fact that this was a continuing problem in and around Ephesus. Merely mention the following scriptures as a reference point).
  • 1 Tim 1:3-7
  • 2 Tim 2:14-3:8
    •
  • John wrote to the churches in the region of Ephesus warning them that some had already infiltrated into the church who were disrupting the fellowship of the church (1 John 4:1; 2 John 9, 10; 1 John 4:1).
    •

     

    The basic teaching of these three epistles is:

  • Two great principles about God from the backbone of these epistles:
  • 1 John 1:5 -  God is light - therefore Christians should walk (live) in the light
  • 1 John 4:16 - God is love - therefore Christians should love one another
  • 1 John 1:1-4 (Teacher, read this text) The church should keep to the teaching of the Apostles which they had heard from the beginning, and thus shun new speculative teachings.
  • 1 John 1:5-7 (Teacher, read this text) If Christians walk in the light (the correct teaching about Jesus) they have fellowship with God and the blood of Jesus (the saving death of Jesus) would constantly in the present cleanse (the Greek grammar is clear on the present continuous action of the cleansing blood of Jesus – note the analogy to the cleansing power of blood that flows through the body), them form all sin.
  • 1 John 2:7-17 Love is the true test of Christianity, which love obviously the false teachers were not manifesting!  (See John 13:35 - read this)
  • 1 John 2:18-29 Abiding in the teaching they had heard from the beginning, that is, abiding in the truth of Jesus, was the sign of true belief and knowledge.
  • 1 John 3:1-4:21 Loving one another is a true sign of being a child of God – you cannot be a child of God if you do not love one another for God is love (4:16) and those who claim to live God are of God love one another.
  • 1 John 5:1-13 Faith in Jesus is the victory we have over the world. Victory over the powers of the world does not come from any form of special knowledge (gnosis), it comes from truly and fully believing in Jesus.
    Perhaps 1 John 5:13 is the high point in these epistles, we know we have eternal life simply by believing in Jesus, not by having some special knowledge, or more knowledge than anyone else, simply by believing fully in Jesus as the Son of God.
  • We should note that in both the Gospel of John and in these epistles believing is not simply something of the mind or simply having faith, it involves obedience and being willing to walk in the light and keeping his commands. See John 3:36; 1 John 1:7; 1 John 2:3.
  • 2 John 9, 10 warns the church not to accept into fellowship (their homes or house churches) those who teach that Jesus is not the divine Son of God, the Christ who came in the flesh.
  • 3 John 9 indicates that some had taken this to the extreme as was the case of Diotrephes.
  • 1 John 2:18 19 speaks of these false teachers as the antichrist.
  • 1 John 4:1-3 warns against these false teachers and instructs the church to test these false teachers (false spirits) and to reject them if they do not accept the full divinity of Jesus.
     
    •

    Summary of the Main Teachings of 1, 2 3 John:

  • In these three short letters we have the essence of Christianity!
    Remember John 13:35 where Jesus instructed the disciples who were to become his apostles – "By this the world will know that you are my disciples, that you love one another."
    Remember John 3:16, 36 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life… He who believes in the Son has eternal life; he who does not obey the Son shall not see life…"
  • 1 John 5:13 Salvation or eternal life comes solely through really believing (fully and truly believing) in Jesus Christ, that he is the divine Son of God, and that he died and was raised for our salvation.
  • 1 John 1:5-7 If we continue to walk in this light we are constantly cleansed form all sin. We do not need to have any special secret kind of special knowledge. All we need is the knowledge of who Jesus is and to believe in him.
  • 1 John 4:7-21 If we are children of God we will love one another because our father God is love. To say we love God and do not love one another is a lie!
  • 1 John 4:1 We must beware of those who do not confess the full divinity of Jesus Christ, test them, and reject them. We must not welcome them into our fellowship.
  • 1 John 5:13 We know we have eternal life if we really believe in Jesus Christ and love one another.
    •